The crisis at Oxfam continues after revelations that senior aid workers paid for prostitutes in Haiti and that the charity failed to properly act on information to protect vulnerable people. The government has threatened to cut funding to the charity if it fails to show “moral leadership”. But, as Luisa Enria writes, these aren’t just difficult questions for Oxfam, but for all NGOs working in international development. The hard task now is to begin reform, not threaten foreign aid.

The age at which children enter puberty is dropping, prompting concerns that an earlier onset may be caused by childhood obesity among other things. But bioarcheologist Mary Lewis has been taking a longer view, to medieval times in England, and argues that a comparison between then and now shows not much has actually changed. Looking even further back – some 700,000 years – Matthew Bennett and Sally Reynolds have been using ancient footprints to work out what childhood was like then.

Seeking a new best friend, or just someone to talk to? A US company thinks it has the answer with an AI chatbot that promises to be “a totally unique and faithful digital friend”. Its designers think it could help solve the growing problem of loneliness, and encourage us to get to know ourselves better, but Trudy Barber’s not so sure – isn’t this narcissism gone mad?

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